For Life and Love
by C.A. Penny
Summary: Kagome and Inuyasha are looking for the final remaining jewel shard. Hitomi is living life without Van. Van is on the brink of war against an enemy that has strange strength and power. Can they all combine their efforts for a common goal? I/K V/H
1. Chapter 1

**For Life and Love**

_An Escaflowne and Inuyasha Crossover Fic_

[AN: This is my attempt at an Inuyasha and Escaflowne crossover fic, (as if you couldn't tell from the subtitle). As far as I can tell, there hasn't been one, so hopefully it will be okay.]

**Prologue**

There was a bright light and then what seemed like thousands of smaller lights emanating from that point. One light in particular went far, and landed in a swamp. The light in question was part of a jewel. Not just any jewel, the Shikon No Tama, The Jewel of Fours Souls. The shard shimmered, though no light was able to hit it while is sat under the water.

The only being to witness the phenomena happened to be a demon. Not a strong one by all means, but he was cunning. Without missing a beat, he dove into the water and retrieved the treasure from within. He looked at the tiny piece of sparkling power in his hand and knew from now on it was going to be different.

The demon smiled and lifted his head skyward.

Without warning, a pillar of light descended from the heavens, surrounding the demon. He could feel himself being lifted.

_My wishes are coming true._

The demon awoke and found him no longer in a swamp, but on a desolate battle field. He looked around and saw that people were emerging from hiding places, probably scared from his entrance.

"The gods have sent us a new emperor!" He heard a man exclaim.

_An Emperor? Huh?_

The demon smirked. His wish was definitely granted.

**Chapter One**

It was a beautiful sunny day at the Higurashi Shrine. There was barely a breeze and the leaves of the Goshinboku didn't move at all. There were many visitors that day coming to pray at the shrine or buy good luck charms. It was definitely busy for its caretakers.

Today was a day where she didn't have to be in the Feudal Era, so she was helping her grandfather around the shrine. She didn't mind as Ji-chan was getting older.

"Kagome," he grandfather started, "do you mind sweeping the grounds while I tend to the worshippers?"

Kagome smiled, "Hai, Ji-chan." She took a broom and began walking towards the middle of the grounds. Doing the sweeping and menial tasks allowed her to reflect on her life.

It has been four years since she had first fallen down the Bone-Eaters Well into Feudal Japan. Four years since the Shikon Jewel had been broken and scattered. And a busy four years it had been. With the emergence of Naraku, it made looking for the shards that much harder, but luckily Inuyasha and She had made friends with Miroku and Sango; and of course Shippou, to help them along the way.

It had been six months since they killed Naraku, their sworn enemy. It had been a hard battle, no one got through without injury. In an attempt to fuck then over, Naraku, with his last ounce of strength, shattered the Shikon No Tama. It seemed to be easier collecting the shards this time around; no Naraku to act as a hindrance.

Kagome looked up at the setting sun and her thoughts turned to the boy, no, man that she had fallen for. She smiled to herself at the thought of how she had met him. He had looked so vunerable pinned to that tree, who would have guessed that he would end up being such a pain in the ass sometimes. She would never change him though, it was the way he was. Even though he was rough around the edges, she knew that he had his soft side, aside from the fact that he almost never let anyone see it. Yet another aspect of him that drew her to his side.

She looked up again, to see if anyone was still there. Luckily for her, everyone had now gone and Ji-chan had gone back inside the house.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Kagome began to walk back to the house as well. She could now get out of the shrine clothes.

As much as she liked helping Ji-chan, she hated wearing the traditional shrine maiden's gard because it made her look more like Kikyou.

Kikyou. She slightly frowned at the thought. Supposedly she was Kikyou's reincarnation. She didn't deny that there were physical similarities, and the spiritual powers, but that was where it stopped. They had totally different personalities. They also shared feelings for a certain Inu-hanyou as well. But where Kikyou wanted revenge and to drag Inuyasha to hell, Kagome was in love and wanted him as a lover, and more.

Stopping in front of Goshinboku, kagome's face was on fire. Had she really thought that? She wanted Inuyasha as her lover? She looked up into the branches of the ancient tree and smiled. Of course she did. She loved that man so much but had never admitted it to him. Mostly from fear of what he would say and how he would react.

She let out a sigh and walked into the house. In the kitchen her mother was making dinner.

"Kagome," she started, "dinner is going to be shortly. Do you mind setting the table?"

"No Mama, I don't mind," Kagome said smiling. "Just let me go and change and I'll be down to do that."

Her mother nodded in understanding. "When do you think Inuyasha is going to come and get you?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "I'm not supposed to go back for another couple of days," she replied while moving towards the stairs to go to her room, "but I'm expecting him to come and get me either tonight or sometime tomorrow." The hanyou was always so impatient.

Again he mother nodded, "Alright honey. You go change."

Kagome continued up the stairs to her bedroom, still thinking of Inuyasha. She didn't know why he was so anxious about collecting the rest of the shards, but he was. They only had one more to get, but they didn't hear any rumours or anything.

She opened up the door to her room and the first thing that she noticed was her open window. The second thing was the inu-hanyou laying on her bed, having a staring contest with the ceiling.

"Inuyasha, what the hell are you doing here?"

Inuyasha sat up, resting on his elbows and looked at Kagome with his large golden eyes. "We still have one more shard to get."

Kagome narrowed her eyes at Inuyasha. "Well I was planning to stay for another two days." She crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame, "You're welcome to stay for that time, but I'm not leaving until then."

In one single movement, Inuyasha got up from the bed to stand in front of her, meeting her gaze and not looking too happy. "Fuck, Wench! I don't want to fucking wait for you!"

Pushing him out of the way, Kagome went to her closet to get a pair of jeans and a shirt. Holding the clothes in her arms she turned to face him again. "Well, if don't want to wait for me," she started her eyes flaring with anger, "then get your precious Kikyou to help you if you want to so badly!" It was a low blow she knew, but she wasn't in the mood to deal with this right now.

"Fuck Bitch…"

He didn't get a change to continue because Kagome cut him off. "Don't call me 'bitch' I have a name! Don't force me to say _it._"

"Like it would fucking stop you anyway."

She wasn't going to say anything more. Kagome was beyond mad right now. Inuyasha always was pushing her buttons. She just pushed him out into the hall and slammed the door in his face.

"Yah Kagome, that was mature!" She heard his disembodied voice coming from the other side of the door.

"I would say the word, but I don't want to destroy my mother's floor!"

She heard and faint "feh" and then footsteps moving away from her door and down the stairs. Kagome let out the breath that she didn't knoq that she was holding. It was going to be a long night…

She still had to change and set the table for her mother.

"I was wondering if you would like to join me for coffee?"

Hitomi Kanzaki sighed. This was yet another offer for a date today. She didn't know why all the guys were suddenly asking her today, but she gave all of them the same answer…

"Sorry. Not interested." The man just nodded at her answer and left.

It was always the same thing. Hitomi would get asked out on a date and she would decline. She inwardly shook her head. She has been holding an eight year torch for a man she hasn't seen or heard from since she left him. It was official. She was a loser. Story of her life.

She collected the books that she was reading and went to leave the library. She was heading past a group of men, one of which was the guy that tried to ask her out.

"Don't bother with that one, she's a dyke. I tried." Hitomi ignored the spiteful word,but thatdidn't make it hurt any less.

Hitomi had basically isolated herself from everyone once she had returned from Gaea, the world where she had had an amzing adventure and met the love of her life. She knew that it was odd, meeting her love at the age of fifteen, but that was how she had felt. Everyday she missed Van, the young king that had stolen her heart, and since returning to Earth she had never allowed herself to meet anyone else. Something was telling her that one day they would be together again. She just hoped that he felt the same.

Walking down the street, Hitomi began to think of all her friends that she had met on Gaea. She wondered how the had moved on, what they were doing. Who had gotten married, who had children now. Had theey're hopes and dreams come true? She didn't know the answers to these questions, and didn't know if she ever would.

It didn't take long for Hitmomi to walk to her apartment. Unlocking the door she walked into the modest living space that she had. Her aparment wasn't very big, just enough for her, she didn't have a roommate.

She dumped her coat and purse in a chair and went to the bedroom, she wanted to take a long nap . As she moved to her bed, she noticed her tarot cards sitting innociently on her desk. Depite the fact that she didn't read them anymore, she didn't have the heart to throw then away. For some reason, right now they were calling to her to use them again.

Unable to ignore the call, Hitommi sat at her desk and shuffled the cards. She kept her mind blank, so the cards would show her a topic of the reading instead of her concentrating on a particular subject. When she was sure that they were good and mixed up, she held the deck in her left hand, flipped up the top card and placed it on the flat surface.

_Strength._

She turned over the next…

_Ace of Serpents._

And one more to complete the simple layout she was using…

_The Priest._

She stared at the cards for what seemed like hours while she tried to decipher the meaning behind the cards.

She reached her hand out an dplaced a finger on the Strength card and she was presented with something she had not had since she returned from Gaea… A vision.

_A shrine._

_It was empty, except for two individuals arguing in the middle of the grounds._

_She moved towards the two people and was able to decern that it was a mand and a woman. There was something strange about them though. As she got closer, Hitomi saw that the man had dog ears, and he wasn't wearing clothing that would be from the 20__th__ century._

"_For the last time, I am staying for two more days!" Hitomi was able to hear them now._

"_Fuck Kagome! We have work to do!" _

_Kagome. That must be the woman's name, but who is the man?_

_Hitomi was standing directly beside the arguing couple. She looked around to see if there was any clue to tell her where this was taking place. She noticed a sign just to the right of the dog-man – 'Higurashi Shrine.'_

_Looking back to the fighting pair, Hitomi heard Kagome yell, "Inuyasha, Oswari!"_

_The man named Inuyasha, she guessed, went slamming, face first, into the ground. He didn't seem hurt, besides his pride, and she heard mumbled curses coming from where he was on the ground._

Hitomi awokd with a start. Blinking, she slowly became aware that she was still in her bedroom.

She looked at the Tarot cards that were now scattered on her desk, from her head laying there. Why did she have a vision of two random people? Who were Inyasha and Kagome?

She grabbed randomly at one of the Tarot cards, looking for her answer.

_Death._ – The card of change.

Something was going to happen. And somehow she was going to be involved as well as Inuyasha and Kagome. It was just a matter of what was going to happen, as well as when and where.

[AN: Well that was the first bit. Please leave some reviews. I'm going to get started on chapter two soon.]


	2. Chapter 2

**For Life and Love**

_An Escaflowne and Inuyasha crossover fanfic._

**Chapter Two**

Van Fanel, the King of Fanelia, was on his balcony looking upon his kingdom. It was amazing how quickly they were able to rebuild. In only a few years after the end of the Destiny War, Fanelia had been rebuilt and was on it's way to be an economic power. Everything was starting to look up,until Zaibach came back inot the picture.

It was a shock to hear that someone had declared themselves as the new Emperor of Zaibach to the rest of Gaea. Even though it was through correspondence that the world found out, Van couldn't shake the sinking feeling in his stomache about this new turn of events.

Stepping away from the railing, Van returned to the inside of his bedroom. It was still early in the morning and he wasn't expected to be anywhere for a while.

He collapsed on his bed and groaned. He really didn't want to have to put up with his advisors today… Or anyday for that matter. They have been trying to push marriage on him for the past couple of years, ever since he hit his twentieth year. It's not that he didn't want to marry and continue that Fanel line, it's just that he was still carrying that flame for that one woman. Crazy, he knew, but he still help but hope and pray that one day Hitomi would return to him.

_Yah, fat fucking chance Fanel._

She was probably living her life back on the Mystic Moon, having found herself someone else to love. He knew that he was being pessismitic, but that is what allowed him to focus on Fanelia. Now that it was done, he was expevted to find a wife and produce and heir. Despite these thought, he really hoped that she was happy, it was all he really could do at this point, they hadn't spoken since he had sent her back home.

He pulled a pillow from the head of his bed, covered his face with it and screamed. Not the most mature thing he could think of, but it helped with the frustration.

He laid there for a while, not really keeping track of the time, when he heard a knock at his door.

_Please, let it not be Raiden._

Raiden was his head advisor. The old man was so set in the old ways that it was sickening. Had he known that he was like that, he woudn't have appointed him, but it was too late now. Raiden was the traditional conservative type and he totally clashed with Van's liberal way of thinking. It was interesting to watch them at counsil meetings.

Van got up from the bed and went to the door. He gave once last silent prayer before opening it to reveal his caller. Much to his disappointment, it was Raiden.

_Fucking fablulous._ He did not have the patience for him today.

"Lord Van, you were supposed to join the counsil over 30 minutes ago." Raiden was a head shorter than Van so he was looking up at the monarche. He was really a stickler for being on time. It was kind of annoying sometimes.

Van rolled his eyes, careful to not let the advisor see. "I'll be down shortly." Short and to the point. Then he closed the door in Raiden's face. Not the nicest thing, but it gotthe point accrose when he didn't feel like talking to the man. There was only so much he could take in a day before blowing up. Raiden knew that Van had a temper, but that didn't stop the man from pushing buttons, if he meant to or not.

Getting dressed for the day, Van couldn't help but wonder what life would have been like if Hitomi had actually stayed instead of going back to the Mystic Moon. For starters, he wouldn't have advisors down his throat about getting married. He would have the most beautiful wife he could ever want, and maybe a couple of children by now as well…

He shook his head of the thoughts. Dreaming and wondering won't do any good, he had to focus on the here and now of reality.

With a last look in the mirror to make sure he portrayed the image a king was supposed to, he headed off to the counsil meeting.

As expecred, the meeting was basically his advisors trying to push random princesses from around Gaea on him. Sure, they were pretty, but he didn't want this. As time wore on his patience wore thinner and thinner. As the tenth girl was mentioned Van snapped.

"That's it. I'm leaving!" Van stood from his seat and started to walk towards the door, if only to keep himn from hitting something.

Raiden stood and called after van, "But my lord, we are not finished yet." Probably not the smartest thing to say.

Van turned to face the table of shock-faced advisors. "Oh yes we are," he was no longer in the mood for any of this.

"Lord Van, you need to find a wife!" This time it was Cortana, another older advisor who Van didn't get along with very well.

That was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. "I don't have to do anything!" Van's eye's flared with anger. "I don't want to marry any one of those girls. The one I DO want to marry is on the fucking Mystic Moon, because I fucking sent her back!" He took a breath as he finished his rant. All the frustration from the past months over this marriage business was getting to him.

_Why did I appoint these people again?_

"Our appologies Lord Van," it was Raiden who spoke. "We will drop the subject for the time being, but remember that you are expected to marry and produce an heir for the continuance of your royal line."

Van nodded solemly. He did know this, but he kept hoping that Hitomi would return. Maybe it was time to forget and move on. Time to let the flame that he had kept buring for the girl who he had fallen for go out and do his royal duty.

"I'm going for a walk." With those words, he left the counsil room and headed towards the gardens. Being inside was starting to choke him.

The walk to the gardens didn't take very long. Along the way, he passed maids and guards who no doubtedly had heard of his tirad with the advisors. Gossip in this place spread like wildfire, especially when it came to him.

The sun on Van's face felt warm and he smiled a little bit. He looked up into the sky and looked at the blue marble of a planet that was there. Eight years. It had been eight years since the war and since he had met Hitomi. It was hard to believe sometimes.

He was walking unconsciously, and he found himself standing infront of the Escaflowne. A tool of war that hoped he would never have to use again. It stood in a kneeling position, just the way he had left it. He noticed the brush growing around the guymelef, as if to signal how long the machine had been standing there.

With a sigh, Van sat at Escaflowne's feet, the massive suit of armour providing shade for him.

Van's thoughts drifted to Hitomi again. He was thinking about her a lot today.

Gods, he wanted to see her again. To hold her like he did before she left, to hear her voice. To… Anything. He missed her entire being.

He was staring up at the Mystic Moon, thinking about how he wanted Hitomi there with him, when a page came running up to him at a full sprint.

"Lord Van," he started. The young boy was quite out of breath, it definitely had to be important. When he was able to breathe properly he finally said, "Zaibach has declared war!"

Hitomi was standing at the bottom of the stairs that led up the the Higurashi Shrine. She just stood there and stared. What was she going to say when she saw the people from her vision? She knew that all the possibilities were extremely odd and should would probably get turned away, them thinking that she was beyond crazy.

"Well it couldn't hurt to check things out," she said to herself as she ascended the stairs to the shrine grounds.

When she reached the top she saw the girl from her vision. She was standing under the big tree in the middle of the grounds. She looked pensive, and had an air of sadness about her. Hitomi wanted to go up to her and ask what was wrong, she felt a strange connection to this girl, and she didn't know why.

Then the girl, Kagome was her name, that much she learned from her vision, turned around and was now facing her. Kagome plastered a smile on her face and said, "Welcome to our shrine. The tour isn't for another hour, but you can buy charms just over there." It was a safe assumption that Kagome worked there, though she wasn't wearing a traditional shrine maiden outfit.

Hitomi nodded and went to where kagome had pointed out to her. She was trying to busy herself with looking at the assortment of charms and trinkets on display, but her thoughts kept going to the vision that she had the night before. And she still dind't know what possessed her to come to the shrine today, but she felt compelled to know why she had the vision in the first place.

"So you need help with anything?" It was kagome who asked the question. She had moved beside Hitomi and was looking intenetly at her.

In a panic Hitomi scanned the display case looking to ask a wuestion about one of the items. Then she saw a keychain with a pinkish/purple orb on the end. "That looks interesting," she said pointing at the object, "is there a story behind it?"

Kagome opened the case and took out the keychain. "As a matter of fact, it kind of does." She handed it to Hitomi and began to tell the story. "The small marble is called the Shikon No Tama, Jewel of Four Souls. It has been said that it has the power to grant the wish of the holder and has been sot after by human and demon alike."

As Kagome was telling the story of the jewel, Hitomi could see it all happening as if she was there.

"It was created by a Priestess, Midoriko, while in the heat of battle with a strong demons. The Jewel was forced from her body and it is believed that her soul and thos of the demons she was fighting are still at battle within it. It passed hands many times, until it came under the protection of the Preiestess Kikyou."

Hitomi could see it all in her mind's eye. Midoriko, the demons, and Kikyou. It was all playing like a movie in front of here eyes. nShe could hear Kagome's voice narrating the whole thing.

"While protecting the Jewel, Kikyou met and fell in love with an inu hanyou. She wanted to live as a normal woman and told him that if they were to wish for him to be human it would purify it."

Hitomi could see Kikyou and Inuyasha. Kikyou looked strangely like Kagome. She listened to Kagome continue with the story.

"But it was to never happen. They were betrayed. Kikyou died thinking the hanyou had killed her and she sealed him to Goshinboku with an arrow." She pointed to the tree Hitomi has saw her standing under ealier.

Though Kagome had stopped talking, Hitomi could still see a scene playing out in front of her. She saw Kagome falling down a well, and releasing Inuyasha from the tree. She then saw flashes of what ash assumed happened to her at those times.

She was suddenly knocked out of the vision. Kagome had grabbed her upper arms and shook her. "Are you alright?"

Hitomi looked Kagome straight in the eyes. "You unsealed Inuyasha from the tree."

It was obvious that Hitomi had shocked the girl. She had take a step back and her eyes were wide. "H-How do you know."

Hitomi let out the breath that she had been holding, there was no sugar-coating this. "I saw it all while you were speaking. I also saw you and Inuyasha in a vision I had last night."

Kagome's eyes went wide. "Vision?" The shock was apparent in her eyes.

"Yes, I have been known to see bits and pieces of the past and future." She gave a half smile, "not that I've wanted it to happen."

Kagome nodded in understanding. "There must be a reason you were send here." If anyone knew about the supernatural, it was Kagome. "Come with me." She grabbed Hitomi's hand and brought her over to the house. "We're going to talk."


	3. Chapter 3

**For Life and Love**

_Chapter Three_

_A/N: I know that it has taken a while to get this chapter out. I know that it's a little short, and I don't really like this chapter, more really filler than anything else. Also, I would like to thank those of you that have left your reviews for __**For Life and Love. **__It never goes unappreciated. I would also like to mention at this time, that I know that the chapters are coming slowly. I have a home life, consisting of baby and house keeping, so I don't have a whole lot of time to write like I would like to. Also I've been having some writer's block. ____ So thank you all again, and enjoy this chapter._

_~C.A_

Kagome closed her bedroom door, as she dragged Hitomi up into the room. "Okay, now we should have some privacy." She didn't understand it, but she felt a strange connection to this woman, and wanted to know more. This woman had a vision about Inuyasha and her, there had to be a reason for it. After years of travelling back and forth from Feudal Japan and the present, she knew that things just didn't happen, whatever gods there were had some sort of plan.

Hitomi smiled and sat on the bed. "I know that it must sound strange to you," She was looking straight at Kagome as she spoke, "sometimes I can't believe the things that I see myself."

Nodding, Kagome went to sit at her desk, facing the chair so she could talk to Hitomi properly. "Trust me; I've seen my share of weird and inconceivable." She smiled at the older woman, trying to send a sense of understanding.

"Yes, that's true." Hitomi's face then changed to that of one of contemplation. "I don't know if I should tell you this, but I feel compelled to for some reason."

"Tell me what?" Now Kagome was curious.

Hitomi gave a half smile, "Well, let's just say I know a little about travel to a different world."

Kagome cocked her head to the side, a confused look on her face. "Now you have me intrigued." Travel to a different world? This was definitely interesting. Kagome couldn't help but be pulled into what Hitomi was telling her. A world called Gaea? She knew that it sounded completely out of this world, pardon the pun, but she believed her. She lived the supernatural everyday.

Hitomi had finished telling her tale, and was waiting for Kagome to respond. She looked like she was taking it all in, and Hitomi hoped that she didn't think that she was completely insane. This was why she never told anyone, not even her mother or Yukari and Amano, her friends from school, about what had happened.

Kagome was about to respond, when suddenly her door slammed open, and an inu hanyou stood in the doorway, clad in red. Both women turned their heads to the source of the disturbance. Inuyasha's eyes went straight to Hitomi, and they widened in fear and realization that she could plainly see his ears.

"SHI-"

"She knows, it's okay Inuyasha."

He turned his head around to look at Kagome. "You fucking told her?!" He went back to looking at Hitomi.

"No I didn't tell her, she's psychic." Kagome didn't want to deal with Inuyasha's temper right now. "She had a premonition about us and came to investigate. Now go away, we're talking."

Inuyasha's mouth opening in shock at Kagome's sudden dismissal. He then closed it and glared at Kagome. "We have to look for the remaining shards! I came to get you!"

"Well, I busy right now! Now go before I say 'it!'"

Inuyasha's eye's narrowed, "You wouldn't dare."

All while this was going on, Hitomi was sitting on the bed, observing. The banter between this couple was actually quite amusing. If she didn't know better, she would think that they were a couple. She smiled, they did look good together.

"Oswari!" And Inuyasha went face first into the floor. Kagome waited for the spell to release its hold before ordering him out of the room again. This time he left, grumbling the whole way.

Van was sitting in the counsel chambers discussing tactics with his generals. He had never thought that they would be going to war again. When the page came to inform him of what was happening that day, he was in a state of shock. He wanted to live in a world without war.

"Lord Van, we have discovered that the new ruler of Zaibach is going to be joining in battle," Cortana, one of Van's generals, said. He had served in the Destiny War and fought along side Van during the battles. He was the first person that Van had asked to take such an honourable position. Of course he had graciously accepted, and had served ever since.

Van raised an eyebrow at the statement. That could be a hindrance for Zaibach, if their ruler was poor on the battlefield. But he just didn't have that feeling. He had a sinking feeling about the new ruler. He had met him once at a social engagement in Austuria; something about the man just didn't sit well with Van. He had the feeling, though, that he was going to be great warrior. He would have to prepare his armies accordingly.

Cortana, noticing his leader's distant looking face, had released the others and was now in the room with only Van. "My Lord, what are you thinking?"

The Fanelian King, noticing that the room was virtually empty except for Cortana and himself, relaxed a bit, slouching in his chair. "I was wishing that Hitomi was here with me, as crazy as that sounds." Van sat back up and looked up at Cortana, "She was like a rock for me during the last war."

Cortana nodded but didn't say a thing.

Van suddenly let out a frustrated growl. "ARG! I don't want to have to be here and discussing battle strategies! This declaration of war is unprovoked, what could they gain by attacking us?"

"It could be a sort of revenge," Cortana started, "It was you and the Lady Hitomi that basically brought down the Empire all those years ago."

It was probably as Cortana was saying. Van didn't want it to be true but he couldn't help those things. He nodded and sunk further into the chair. What happened to the world without war that he was trying to strive for? A war to bring peace? It sounded foolish.

"I want to try and negotiate with this Emperor… But I don't think that's going to get me very far." Van's head as in his hands, again.

Cortana nodded at Van's statement. It was probably a foolish notion to think that a negotiation with this enemy was going to get them very far.

Van, having actively participated in the Destiny War, didn't want to go through another, and he wasn't too sure that Fanelia was able to get through another attack. Sure it had been eight years, but reconstruction and expansion take time, and they were still vulnerable. They had a military, not a large one, but it was there. Fanelia had spent what they had rebuilding the country, and trying to gather economic ties, military was last on the list. Why an army would be need if there were going to be peaceful times?

_Hitomi, I want you here._ Van looked down at the pendant hanging from his neck and then to the map on the table noting battle positions. _We're going to need all the help that we can get._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

It had been a very interesting day for Hitomi. Meeting Kagome and Inuyasha, as well as learning that she wasn't the only one that had something completely odd happen to her. She was able to share her secret with someone who would be able to understand what it was like to know something but not be able to tell anyone else outside of those events. It was comforting in a way. She thought that Kagome was a kind soul, and sensed and power in her, most likely the miko training that she said that she had. Inuyasha, the brash inu hanyou, was okay once he calmed down about her seeing his ears.

It was now the evening and Hitomi had returned to her apartment for the night. It felt strange, having spent the day with someone and now returning to her empty home. She heaved a sigh, deciding that due to all the excitement of the day, she would call it an early night.

Hitomi showered, changed into her pyjamas and then headed for her bedroom. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit her pillow. It was then that she dreamed.

_A battlefield. That is where she stood now. In middle, between two armies._

_To her left stood a massive army, led by what she could only describe as a demon. He had red eyes, pointed ears, and fangs which protruded from an evil grin. This demon gave her a cold feeling. She could also see a faint purplish-pink glow coming from the creature's arm._

_To her right a smaller army laid awaiting orders from its commanders. The magnificent figure of the Escaflowne stood in the middle of the front. Its cockpit was opened so that she could see the pilot. She didn't need to see to know who was with the armour. Van Fanel sat staring down his opponent. Upon the Escaflowne's should, stood a man in red, with long silver hair._

"_Inu- Inuyasha?"_

As usual, as soon as she spoke, she was awakened from the dream.

"Wha- What was Inuyasha doing on Gaea?"

Kagome sighed as she sat at her desk. She had long since graduated from High school, so what she was looking at were some scrolls she found laying around the shrine. For the most part, they were completely useless. Mostly they were legends of the Shikon No Tama, most of which she knew already.

"Can we go yet?" Kagome rolled her eyes at the sound of his voice. Inuyasha had not given up trying to get her to continue the search for the final piece of the jewel.

"No. I promised Mama I would help out around the shrine." It wasn't a complete lie. She _did_ promise to help around the shrine; she just didn't feel like going back to the Feudal Era yet.

Inuyasha let out a 'keh' and flopped down onto Kagome's bed. "There's still another piece of the jewel out there."

Kagome rolled her eyes. He always used this argument. "Do you have any leads?" She looked at her Hanyou companion and was met with a blank stare. "Just as I thought. I don't want to have to run around the country side all the time with no idea where we should be headed!"

Inuyasha, at the sound of Kagome's raised voice, sat up suddenly. "Well it beats sitting around and doing fucking nothing!" he shouted back at her.

"Don't yell at me!"

"Don't tell me what to do, bitch!"

"Inuyasha! O-" Kagome was promptly cut off from uttering the 'word' by Inuyasha's hand over her mouth. Her eyes narrowed at him.

Inuyasha stared intensely at Kagome. "I don't like that word Kagome." His voice was softer, not yelling like he was a moment before. He kept his hand over her mouth a little longer. Then he slowly moved so that he could run his thumb over her lips. As his hand moved, it settled on her cheek, cupping her cheek.

Kagome stared back at Inuyasha, wondering what was going on in his head. Unconsciously, her tongue shot out to moisten her drying lips. His head was slowly getting closer to her own. She moved her head to meet his, her eyes fluttering closed in while she was making the movement.

Just as they were centimetres apart, a knock came from Kagome's door. At the sound, both Kagome and Inuyasha jumped apart, both turning several shades of red and pink.

Kagome was the first to recover from her embarrassment. "Come in." She breathed a sigh, as her voice didn't sound shaky.

The door opened to reveal Hitomi standing in the hallway. "Sorry for interrupting, but your mother let me in." She couldn't help the smile that played on her lips. With the colours that Inuyasha was turning, she was sure that she almost walked in on a romantic moment. She couldn't help but feel a little intrusive, as it was obvious that the couple were attracted to each other.

Kagome smiled as she saw that it was her new friend that entered the room. "You didn't interrupt much. Just another argument." She sent a glare in Inuyasha's direction. "Come in a sit down."

Hitomi moved father into the room, the light expression she was wearing being replaced with a more serious one. "There's something that I think I need to tell you two."

"Lord Van!"

Van was sick of all the advisors getting on his case of the trivial matter of getting married, when there was a war looming over their heads. As it was, he had tried to lock himself in his study just to avoid Raiden. That was where he was now. He ducked inside the room as soon as he saw the old advisor walking down the hall towards him.

Ignoring the knocking that was coming from his door, van walked over to the centre of the room where his maps were laying upon a large table. He knew that he had time before the Zaibach armies arrived, but they were not sure as to which direction they would be coming from. The southern border would make the most sense, as that was the closer to Zaibach.

Frustrated, Van collapsed into the closest chair, his head falling into his hands. Never had he ever planned for something like this to happen again.

"So you had a vision with _me_ in it?" Inuyasha had sat and listened to Hitomi's story about her vision and what she had seen.

Hitomi nodded, "Yes." She looked at the two young adults with seriousness in her eyes. "The only reason why I would see that, I think is because you are to go to Gaea."

Inuyasha and Kagome both wore faces of confusion and shock.

After several minutes of silence, Inuyasha was the first to speak. "How exactly are we supposed to get there?"

Hitomi let out a loud sigh, "I don't know." She hugged her knees against her body, "I have never really made it happen on purpose."

Inuyasha snorted.

"Well, maybe we can give it a try," Kagome suggested. She sent a glare over to Inuyasha as he rolled his eyes.

"Yah, that's all well and good, but what no one is explaining is _why_ I would need or want to go to this Guy-a." Inuyasha was not in a mood to be told what he should be doing. He somewhat believed in fate, he had to or else why would he have Kagome? But what he couldn't get out of his head was the fact that this woman was able to peer into that future and see what was in store. It unsettled him a little bit.

Hitomi smiled at the hanyou. "There's always a reason for everything Inuyasha. I may have seen you there, but that doesn't mean that I know that purpose of your time there." She got up from her position on the bed and made her way over to the window. "We could try right now. It's almost dusk, so we wouldn't be interrupted by anyone."

Kagome nodded in agreement. "I'll pack my backpack with some stuff and then we can go out to the shrine." She didn't feel the need to tell her mother about this. Even though she accepted Kagome going back and forth to the past and back, she doubted that she would believe going to a different planet.

The three of them went and stood in the middle of the shrine courtyard. Standing in as much as a circle as three people could muster, they held hands. InuYasha, kept his eyes open as Kagome and Hitomi closed their in concentration.

"Picture a blue pillar of light in your mind," Hitomi started, "I'll picture Gaea."

Kagome did as she was instructed, picturing the pillar in her mind's eye. And even though he was doubtful, InuYasha did as well.

"Please," whispered Hitomi, "send to Gaea. Send me to him."

All of a sudden, they all had the sensation of weightlessness and lifting. InuYasha looked up to where he was going and almost didn't believe what he was seeing. They really did it. They were going to Gaea.


	5. Author's Note

Author's note:

To all those get the story alerts to this and are thinking that I've actually update,d I'm sorry, this is just an author's note.

Okay. I'm aware of my lack in updating this story in the longest time. I'm horrible. What I'm trying to do is pick this back up and pump out chapters as regular as I can. I have lost the notes that I had for this, so I'm going to read through the 4 chapters that I have and go from there.

Thanks to all that have taken the time to review the story, I'm going to do this for you!

~C.A. Penny


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